October 16, 2009

Thinking of investing in a Bid Management Tool? Below are some questions that helped us understand which tools to use over the past couple of years:

Engine Functionality

• Does the bid management tool work with at least 3 major search engines Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing (Overture), & MSN AdCenter?
• What is its functionality with Tier 2 Engines?

Business Goal Settings

• Does the bid management tool allow you to set Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) Goals?
• Does the bid management tool allow you to set Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) Goals?
• Does the bid management tool allow you to set Return on Investment (ROI) Goals?

Bid Management & Optimization

• Does the bid management tool optimize keyword level PPC bids?
• Is the bid management tool capable of optimizing PPC bids based on day parting?
• Can the bid management tool adjust PPC bids based on position?
• Will you be able to preview bid changes before the Max. CPCs are live?
• Is the bid management tool able to forecast your PPC account’s performance based on its historical data and suggested changes?
• Can it manage and optimize PPC bids for your Content Distribution accounts?

Keyword Research & Functionality

• Besides managing PPC bids is the tool capable of doing new keyword research and deveopment?
• Can you research the competitve landscape?
• How does it optimize poorly performing keywords and when is a keyword termed poorly performing?

Creative Testing

• Can the tool make ad copy suggestions?
• If you are bidding at the ad group level, can the tool identify poorly performing creative/ad Copy and make suggestions?

Data Sharing

• Does it work only with Conversion Counter from Search Engines?
• Or does it require you to place their conversion pixel and then upload conversion, & other performance data?

Reporting

• Does it allow you to view Transaction History/Audit Trail?
• How far back can the reports go? 1 Year? 6 months?

Scalability

• Is it capable of managing millions of keywords per account?
• What does the tool consider to be statistical sufficient data set to make effective bid management decissions?
• Does it require only a handful of conversions or is it data intensive and requires a lot of data before it can make effective bid management suggestions?

Data Integrity

• Does it syncs with Search Engine accounts automatically and often – allowing the user to make changes through Search Engine UI as well?
• Can you roll back changes made?

Start Up Considerations

• Do you need to change existing URLs or other Tracking features?
• What is the time frame needed to sync your PPC accounts with the bid management tool?
• Are you required to use your own API or would you be using the bid management tool’s API?
• What is the average time you can expect for the bid management tool to start showing results in?
• Any other business considerations based on your business model

Pricing & Contract Structure

• Do they charge Per Month?
• Or do they charge a percentage of Online Spend?
• What are the Additional API Charges?
• Is it Month to Month?
• Or is it a termed Contract?

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